Reputation Payment

If a person pays you with money, for your product, then you know you’ve made a product that solves a problem. Money speaks. “This solves my problem.”

If a person pays you with money, and tells their friends about it, then you know you’ve made a product that solves two problems. Reputation speaks too. “By associating myself to this product, or by helping those who seek my recommendations, I spend my reputation, and I hope to expand it too.”

The person who pays you with their reputation, someone who vouches for you, who puts their status and their recognition on the line for you, they pay you more than the person who pays you only in money. They’re paying you in risk. Up to a point. Depending on their reputation.

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Someone can pay you in reputation, but that might be the only thing they can pay you with.

Someone can pay you in reputation and in a little money, but that might not get you the word-of-mouth you were hoping.

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Making an introduction to someone else is a reputation payment.
Making a public testimonial is a reputation payment.
Making an invitation to be part of a team is a reputation payment.

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When you’re just starting out, keeping your word and increasing your reputation will take you further. You will be able to make reputation payments that make an impact.

When you’ve made reputation payments that didn’t have any impact, you can take a break, settle down, and start collecting more of it in your reputation bank account. Your next reputation payment will have more weight.

Once you’ve made multiple reputation payments that mattered, and you start announcing your next product or your next project, people will notice. They will give you the benefit of the doubt.

And then, you might receive a whole lot of reputation payments, all at once.